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The couple who bought and resold a majority of the jewelry "The Pillowcase Bandit" stole from homes during a year-long burglary binge pleaded guilty Friday.
David C. Bean was calling himself "The Pillowcase Bandit" because of his trademark method of burglarizing well over a dozen homes all over rural parts of Lycoming County.
Victims shared a similar story -- they would find jewelry and other things missing, including a pillowcase that Bean used to haul the stolen belongings away in.
Bean would then bring that jewelry to Nik's Goldsmith, at 1604 E. Third St., and sell it to Nicholas and Jean Lenios.
Together, the co-owners of the store received an estimated $86,000 worth of stolen jewelry from Bean, according to an affidavit.
"We bought jewelry that was coming into the store that was (suspected) of being stolen," Jean Lenios said when asked to explain the case. The couple wasn't positive that the jewelry was stolen, but they "had an idea that it was."
During Bean's trial, testimony showed that even a custom Greek necklace made specifically for one of Nicholas Lenios' customers was stolen.
The couple would buy the pawned jewelry and sell it all at a higher price than what they bought it for.
After Bean was arrested, undercover operations were conducted at Nik's Goldsmith where police arranged a sale of jewelry and coins, according to an affidavit.
During the undercover buys, police said they determined the couple were involved in a "criminal conspiracy" with Bean.
Nicholas and Jean Lenios told the informant that Bean had been blackmailing them from jail.
Initially charged with just under 10 separate charges, the couple have since cooperated extensively with police during Bean's case as well as in other cases.
In Lycoming County Court Friday, each pleaded guilty to a single count of receiving stolen property.
The charge has a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine, Judge Marc F. Lovecchio said.
But by pleading guilty and cooperating during Bean's trial, Jean Lenios is facing a sentence of four years of probation. Nicholas Lenios would be given time served for the week he served in prison and faces up to five years on probation.
They will both be sentenced on Oct. 11 by Judge Lovecchio.
Bean was found guilty by a jury of most of the long string of counts against him and sentenced to serve 37 1/2 years in a state prison in early June.
Senior Judge J. Michael Williamson ran that sentence consecutively with a 19- to 38-year prison stint for raping two women and filming it on a cellphone during the winter of 2012 and 2013 - meaning David Bean will be in prison for at least 56 1/2 years for a period of a year-and-a-half of criminal activity.